Best Louis Poems
Description of The Funeral of Atala (Funérailles d'Atala or Atala au tombeau), 1808, Louvre
I sauntered through the Louvre, observing art.
One painting struck me for its quality
of sadness; I could see a young man’s heart
was clearly broken by a tragedy.
The man is Indian; he’s in a cave
with an old man who holds the shoulders of
a woman they’ll be putting in her grave.
The Indian is mourning for his love.
He’s sitting, clinging to her draped knees, and
though for me this image was unclear,
a crucifix is clutched inside her hand.
Outside upon a hill, a cross is near.
The artist was recalling the sad scene
of Atala, a woman who was mired
in mental conflict. She was torn between
religious vows and the one man she loved.
Although the heroine wears virgin white,
some sensuality is shown with grace.
The day is waning, and the sun’s last light
caresses her fair bosom and her face.
The focus is this woman, but my eyes
go to the half-nude Indian whose skin
is brown, in contrast to the girl who lies
dead by her own hand for fear she would sin!
The novel that explored Atala’s woe
inspired more than one painter in the time
romanticism had begun to grow,
but Girodet’s work of art for me is prime!
Written May 9, 2017 for the Celebration of Art Contest of Kim Rodrigues
Note: I can't find a French syllable counter, but English puts the artist's name Girodet at three syllables.
King Louis of France
Was looked on by many askance
Then the people said fooey to Louis
And made their selection: Chop Suey
Old King Louis got everything wrong
Told his wife in a touching swan song
“I think it’s for the best
Get it off of my chest”
Made his exit quite short, not so long
King Louis in or out of doors
Loved to dress in silky drawers
When asked “Do they feel alright?”
He said: ”Yes, when they’re pulled up tight”
27 August 2019
Clerimerick Couplets Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Mark Toney
"Pops" is gone
Master of the trumpet
He dazzled
with his artistry
We listened
and watched
The man could rip
out a tune.....
But if the truth be told
He is gone
He's with Bix, Miles
and the others
"Gone from the world"
Louis Riel
My fourth cousin removed his name is Louis Riel
Was a visionary fiery leader but had met up with turmoil
Some of his kin were proud descendants of
French Canadian coureurs debois
A spiritual and political leader
For the Metis people of the Canadian prairies.
Louis Riel: Born Oct. 22/1844 at Red River Colony
Died Nov, 16/1885 at Regina, Saskatchewan.
It was a hot humid muggy evening
The festivities were just starting
Inebriated souls, and the smell of Cajun cooking
The moon was sitting idly by, waiting for her role
The smokey flavor of the night’s meal
Sifting scents pleasing,
The mixture of perfume and gourmet
Evil lurking just underneath
The flowers were radiant
Laughter permeates the air
Then the little ones, with beguiled charm
Cut through the social soirée
Blood spurts from body parts
The killing fields of St Louis
As patrons and saints are slaughtered
Like lambs
I feel the callus cut of the knife
As my fingers fall to the ground
I know the evil stench of horrors
Has only begun to spread
Like the roots of sinister wine
Bordereau is the prison of the mind
The lamb is now the Wolfe
Montcalm would never fair well
As limb and leg fall slain
I cry out in horrific pain
For the battle of St Louis
I have been murdered in vain
Louis XVI
head strong
head gone
New Orleans by night
the city that care forgot
do come visit us
I quickly joined the Navy on June the 4th, 1943,
As soon as I graduated at 17, life was definitely to be;
I received boot training in the state of Maryland,
At Bainbridge, became a navigator noble and grand.
I was sent to Amphibious Training wet, phew wee,
At Little Creek in Virginia, where I got my crew,
Of different ranks including machinists as gunners,
The craft was 56-foot, our rations made us stunners.
But I was separated from my crew, went to Plymouth,
In England, placed on a Liberty ship used to house,
Replacement cargo for artillery that got destroyed,
Which was so much longer than the crafts deployed.
In Fahnouth England, I memorised Normandy maps,
Prepared and used a Reflectoscope to turn on the taps;
We were scared of poison gas when we hit Omaha,
I was quarantined on June 1st of ’44, needed mama.
We saved many from the crafts using cargo nets sublime,
But they were difficult to climb in the rough seas, crime,
A craft almost mounted the ship ‘cos of a high wave,
And always we had to be steely and very, very brave.
The bombs from the Nazi’s were the size of footballs,
And we painstakingly recovered many bodies, stalls,
From the water which had just beaten them cruelly,
And that first D-Day morning we were losing brutally.
The Germans hedgehogs, or bombs for the landing crafts,
Fired on us from a pillbox, but in my case American staff,
Took my attacking pillbox out, and I was just so grateful,
‘Cos it was causing me havoc ‘cos I almost felt too awful.
Luckily that night two German planes simply just avoided us,
After a few days we did hydrographic 3D printing work, suss,
For which I was commended, I contributed to today’s 3D printing
Then I lead the invasion of southern France, which was amazing.
The Panama Canal saw me on a rocket ship headed for Japan,
But the A-Bomb ended the war, and we went state-side to tan,
My Honourable Discharge was in March of ’46, and I was quick,
To get back to my peacetime activities, but never forgot the sick.
How to keep microbes from souring alcohol?
Submit them to pasteurization and kill them all!
Want your ale sweet when it is done brewing?
Destroy all the bacteria with heating and cooling!
And when your yeast is done with fermentation,
Use germ theory for vaccinations!
His work led to prevention of anthrax and rabies,
But also the whole field of stereochemistry!
Although being paralyzed probably stunk,
It was probably bearable being always drunk!
now is all there is,
that's the nature of the beast,
relatively speaking
advantaging 'those' who control time...
now is a situation of absence and meaning
'those'...are us and our day to day routines
slowing down, to take advantage of the scenery...
remember the most wonderful childhood song,
'what a wonderful world' by louis armstrong...
well, now is all there is and it is a wonder(full) world...be strong
East St. Louis, IL
City of Champs
A city with untapped potential and mountains of hope,
A people with great dreams, reaching forward
Looking for ways to manage and cope.
From the outside looking in, it doesn’t appear to be much
Enduring and standing through a lifetime of corruption,
Protected and sustained by God’s merciful & everlasting touch.
Stricken by drugs, crime, violence, and generational poverty,
Financial, social, mental, emotional, circumstantial,
Those are the outcomes that we see.
A lost cause to most, a scapegoat for many, overlooked by some
Except those who live and walk the streets
Experience success and proud to proclaim where they are from!
Each new generation fighting to overcome the mistakes of the last,
Losing an uphill battle, yet we manage to survive,
Eager to provide hope for the future and honor the warriors of the past.
-Poetic Love 10/8/10
Fete Nationale finally came about on July 14th 1789
When the commoners stormed the Bastile so fine.
Their crops had failed that summer, and it went to their head.
They were spending ninety-percent of their salary on bread
The Tyranny of King Louis the Fourteenth was not sliding by
His wife was lavishly spending, and they owned the gun power supply.
Prisoners were being locked up in the Bastile with no trial whatsoever.
So the French Revolution was started – a worthwhile endeavor.
When Marie Antoinette arrived in France, all she knew was ballroom and dance.
The champagne flowed from fountains of stone as her and King Louis sat on their thrones.
So lavishly dressed they were at their balls as the poor and the starving stood outside their walls.
At their feast they enjoyed pastry and meat, as the peasants groveled down at their feet.
It was then that the masses led a revolt and captured the King and the Queen in their coats.
They were taken away to the bastille, to await the trial that would end their ordeal.
When the trial came their sentence was death so they were led to the guillotine where they took their last breath.
3/17/2013
Terry Burns
Blind; six dots helped others "see".
For Raul's contest
French King Louis XVI placed his love bet
On teenage queen Marie Antoinette
Sadly, it is said, though she deserted his bed
For frivolous Marie, Louis lost his head.
Of Louis’ sweet Marie, it is our take
She was a desserter who truly loved cake
For proposing cake for peasants who lacked bread
Queen Marie left a guillotine minus her head